The proliferation of the Internet and mobile computing devices has led to a number of different mechanisms and protocols for connecting the two together. In order to unleash computing devices from the physical limitation of Ethernet connections, wireless communication protocols have developed.
One wireless technology area is a wireless local area network (WLAN). An example of a WLAN is Wi-Fi, which was developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance. Wi-Fi allows local area networks (LANs) to be deployed without wires for client devices, typically reducing the costs of network deployment and expansion. Spaces where cables cannot be run, such as outdoor areas and historical buildings, can host wireless LANs. Therefore, portable devices such as notebook computer, video game consoles, mobile phones and personal digital assistants can connect to the Internet when within range of a wireless LAN connected to the Internet.
However, Wi-Fi networks have limited range. A typical wireless router using 802.11b or 802.11g with a stock antenna has a range of approximately 32 m indoors and 95 m outdoors. Although the new 802.11n standard exceeds this range, it is still fairly limited. Due to reach requirements for wireless LAN applications, power consumption is fairly high compared to some other standards.
Another wireless technology area is a wireless wide area network (WWAN). An example of a WWAN is radio technology. Initially wireless service providers provided different data packet radio technology depending on the infrastructure they had already established. For example, wireless service providers running on a CDMA infrastructure introduced EVDO to provide data packet transfer. Wireless providers running on a GSM infrastructure introduced GPRS to provide data packet transfer. Currently, the GSM and CDMA infrastructures are running 3G standards. However, as the technology evolves, it appears as if most wireless service providers are moving towards the fourth generation of radio technologies, referred to as Long Term Evolution (LTE).
As both WLAN and WWAN technologies develop, it is becoming accepted that the technologies can be used to complement each other. For example, while WLAN is relatively cheap to implement, WWAN technologies are still relatively expensive. While WLAN has limited range, WWAN technologies offer a much broader range.
Accordingly, devices that offer both WLAN and WWAN technologies are currently sought after. These devices allow a user to transmit data using either technology depending on user preferences as well as network availability.
However, even the most recent WLAN protocol and newly introduced WWAN technologies offer only a portion of the bandwidth available via connections such as Ethernet. Accordingly, it is desirable to improve the throughput of mobile computing devices.